marketing and promotion of books Archives

Do you know what you’re signing up for?

Haley Kral and Anne Marble share their experiences of signing up for online newsletters and free books and stories. While in some cases, FREE really IS free, in many others, there’s a hidden cost that might not immediately be apparent.

Romance is a big market and authors have to keep working at keeping their name and new releases, fresh in reader’s minds. There are different approaches to this but the most obvious seems to be sending out a newsletter to fans. In fact, what’s old is new again, and author newsletters seem to be the hot new promotional tool; in fact, some authors are lavishing more attention on their newsletters than on blogging and social media. Nothing gives a writer a guaranteed audience like a popular newsletter! However, some authors are trying new ways of reaching readers, such as online promotion sites – and as is the case with the trusty newsletter, there are authors using them well, and […]

Bloggers, Reviewers and Street Teams?

The idea of the street team isn’t brand new; it’s been around the music industry for a while now and it started crossing over into romance at least 5-6 years ago. However, as self-publishing has grown and as ebooks have opened up a whole new world for indie publishers, these seem to be popping up more and more. At RWA this past year, we heard “street teams” mentioned in every other workshop, it seemed. Authors discussed them, and publishers highlighted them as an important part of the marketing process. The idea of authors branding themselves was everywhere and street teams definitely constituted a significant portion of that.

It seemed like everyone wanted to get book bloggers on board with the idea of street teams and certainly the promise of exclusive info and fun freebies has its allure, but what exactly does it mean to join a street team?